Be sure to secure that handle - it probably hold the printhead in place, or holds the cartridges in. Either way, it could contribute considerably to the current faulty condition of your printer!

(Checking on that detail, I find that the level to the immediate right of the right-most cartridge is indeed the printhead lever. It should be down! otherwise ink won't reach the paper. Once you have lowered it, don't print anything critical nor on expensive paper, until you have verified that there isn't - as there probably will be - a sloppy mess of ink deposited upon the paper at first. Without the printhead within reach of the paper, a bit of ink may have accumulated on the lower surface of the printhead, possibly.)

I spoke to the Canon help line and they told me to turn off the printer, take the ink cartridges out and remove the print head. Then turn the printer back on and return the ink cartridges and the print head I did that and it now tells me that 'The type of print head is incorrect. Install the correct print head.' This is the same print head that has been in the machine for the past 4 years. I am confused!!

But, if dust got into the works, or waste ink splatters or drips, and got across a circuit contact (metallic looking, the printhead has them, the space it fits into has them, and the cartridges have them too by the way), then that could cause the problem(s) you've been having, too.

So cleaning all those contacts (but first, the ones the printhead fits against in the carriage, and the ones on the printhead that fit against those) with cotton swabs or cotton balls moistened in rubbing alcohol solution, would be the best thing to try at this point. (When cleaning the contacts in the printer's carriage, be sure that the power is turned Off and the printer is unplugged, for absolute safety both to yourself and to the printer!)

I would say it's pretty clear that the printhead system or associated circuitry has a severe enough problem, and the routine stuff won't solve it. The printer will require servicing at this point I think, and since it is out of warranty, you would have to bear the expense of such servicing yourself, I'm sorry to say. However - given that the printer is over 4 years old, it might possibly be a better alternative from several points of view, to replace the printer. I don't know - that would be up to you to decide. Some factors to consider would be whether the printer (at its age-in-service) would be likely to 'stay fixed' if you went to the expense of servicing it... if it were 5 years or more old, I would say that would certainly be a consideration, but at 4 years old, it is not far from being old enough for it to be likely to break in some other way soon after being repaired for whatever's wrong with it now.

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